Day 11 Vancouver to Tofino

Many moons ago I spent a summer in a university class on Vancouver Island at Bamfield Marine Station. It was one of the best summers of my life and I loved the hours that I spent in a sea kayak or on the beaches in the area.

In the years since, my ocean play has been with my little ones - mostly boogie boarding in Maine.  I've been thinking it was time for them to graduate to real surfing, so where better to try that out than in Canada's surfing capital, Tofino? 

Waiting for the ferry in Nanaimo

 Just looking at the views is entertainment enough.  Any whales?  Not this time :(

 Nanaimo bars on the way to Nanaimo

 Look at those happy children.

 That's more like it!

 On the way we stopped at MacMillan Provincial Park, specifically "Cathedral Grove" a bit of old-growth forest that is accessible from the highway.  Some of its trees have been cut down in the past but most is intact, including an 800 year old monster they call "the big tree".

This is the root system of a not-so-big tree.

This one is losing the battle with woodpeckers.

 The only way to really capture a photo of one of these trees would be to cut all the others down.  Since they wouldn't let me do that, I took this.

 Emma and Oscar in the burned out trunk of a cedar.  The cedar is still alive!

 There are tree huggers and then there are tree nappers.

 I'm sure the tree doesn't mind.

 This beast isn't the big tree.

 Obligatory family photo.

 Entering Mirkwood

 This is my little sapling in front of The Big Tree.  800 years old.

The Big Tree and The Medium Kid.

Welcome to Tofino.  It's been waiting for you!

First stop, Tacofino.